Electrical device for operating rear curtains of automobiles



is efiected by a certain mechanism engaging the rack bar 26. This mechanism comprises a pinion which meshes with the teeth of the rack bar and which is mounted on a shaft 41 having hearings in the opposite walls of the casing sections 10 and 12, as shown in Fig. 6. The shaft 41 has a head 41 which is flattened on one side as shown at 41 in Fig. 2, to engage the flange 24 so that rotation of this shaft is prevented. The opposite reduced end of the shaft is threaded for engagement by a nut 42 so that it assists the screws 13 in securing the casing members 10 and 12 together. The hub of the pinion 40 carriesan integrally formed ratchet wheel 43 by which the pinion is rotated and the teeth 43 of this ratchet wheel are adapted to be engaged by a pawl 44 which is located within the chamber of the casing members and pivotally connected by a pin 45 with an operating lever 46 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 47 carried by the casing m-embers. The operating lever 46 is located directly beneath the handle 11 and is provided with a downwardly projecting lug 46 to limit the forward movement of the fingers of the operator which are adapted to engage this operating lever when the palm of the hand is in engagement with the handle 11. The upward movement of the operating lever 46 is adapted to be limited by a lug 46 which engages a lug 48 formed on the underside of the upper portion of the casing 10. Upon upward movement of the lever 46 from the positions illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5, the pawl 44 moves downwardly and effects rotation of the ratchet wheel 43 and the pinion 40, the pawl 44 being normally moved into engagement with the ratchet teeth by the action of certain mechanism engaging the upper end thereof. For this purpose, the pawl 44 is provided with a projecting head 44 located above the pivot pin 45 and this head is provided witha socket 49 which is loosely-engaged by a pin 50, the lower end of which loosely engages another socket 51 formed in the upper side of a dentent 52 which is pivoted on a pin 53 extending horizontally between the walls of the casing members 10 and 12. The detent 52 has a tooth 52 adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet 'wheel to prevent reverse rotation thereof. A coil spring 55 is mounted on the'pin50 with its lower end engaging a collar 56 carried by the pin and with its upper end engaging the underside of the head 44 carried by the pawl 44. By this arrangement, the coil spring 55 serves not only to force the pawl 44 into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel but it also acts normally to maintain the tooth 52 of the detent in engagement with a tooth of the ratchet wheel. When the pawl is operated to rotate the ratchet wheel the detent rides over the teeth. of the ratchet wheel and engages a tooth in a new-position to hold the ratchet wheel against reverse rotation during a reverse movement of the operating lever 46. To permit the release of the ratchet wheel and to allow a relative re-' turn movement of the casing and the rack bar 26 after these parts have been actuated to effect the relative separation of the two sets I of gripping members, the detent 52 is rocked upwardly about its pivot 53 and the pawl 44 is simultaneously moved out of engagement with the ratchet teeth. This operation is effccted bya releasing member 60 mounted on a shaft 61 and having one arm 61 to engage the underside of a projection 52 formed on the detent. The release member 60 is further provided with an upwardly extending part 61 which is adapted to engage the inner face of the arm of the pawl 44. When the shaft 61 is rotated in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, the parts 61 and 61 of the release member serve to effect simul taneous disengagement of the detent 52 and the pawl 44, res ectively, with the teeth of the ratchet whee 43. This operation is effected by a thumb lever 63 which is secured on the projecting end of the shaft 61 by a cotter pin 64, as shown in Fig. 2. The upper curved extremity 63 of this thumb lever is 1n convenient position to be engaged by the thumb of the hand which rests on the handle 11 so that one hand of the operator may be employed to effect the operation of stretching the strap and also to release the stretching mechanism after the strap has been rendered taut. As heretofore indicated, the release of the ends of the strap from the grip ping members 17 and 31 is efiected by such relative movement of the strap and gripping member as will tend to increase the inclination of the axis of the gripping member with respect to a vertical plane passing through its pivotal axis. Inasmuch as the gri ping members require the operation of no a just-J ing screws or other auxiliary devices for causing them to grip the strap and since they may be released merely by effecting relative movement of the gripping members with respect to the strap in a direction contrary to that whichtends to increase the grip, it will be apparent that the strap stretching device may be quickly operated for engaging and releasing a strap and that one hand of the operator is free to move the strap into and out of engagement with the gripping members which are self-gripping and self-releasing.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described-by way of illustration, it will be understood that it may be constructed in various other forms within the scope of the appended claims.

Nov. 1, 1932. J. R. RlDPATH ET AL 1,385,766

ELECTRICAL DEVICE FOR OPERATING REAR CURTAINS OF AUTOMOBILES Filed Oct. 17, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 22 ,los

Inventors J. r? Ffidpai'h :TL- HQ 946. By 2; M11 am f/(ztorneys.

Patented Nov. 1, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAY R. RIDPATH AND JOHN L. HAGIE, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA ELECTRICAL DEVICE FOR OPERATING REAR CURTAINS OF AUTOMOBILES Application filed October 17, 1928.

Our invention relates to electrical devices for operating rear curtains of automobiles. Drivers of automobiles sometimes desire to adjust the rear curtain, either to lower the curtain to shut out the glare of the headlights of automobiles which are following or to raise the curtain so that they can see what is behind them. An object of our invention is to provide means by which the driver can 10 readily lower and raise the rear curtain whenever he desires, such means being controllable at a point within each reach of the driver so that he is not forced to turn around in his seat to pull the curtain or have someone in 1 the rear seat operate the curtain for him. The invention includes the provision for a small electric motor connected with the curtain for operating the same, a switch device close to the operator by means of which the motor may be caused to operate in either direction and a device which stops the motor both when the curtain reaches its raised and lowered positions. We are aware of the fact that it has been proposed to adjust rear our- 95 tains of automobiles by means of a mechanical device through the agency of which the driver may raise and lower the curtain by force applied to a handle member but so far as we are aware, it is broadly new to provide an elecggtrically operated device for adjusting the curtain, the current for the device being readily controlled by the driver who manipulates a switch placed within easy reach whereby the curtain may be raised and lowered at will.

The full objects and advantages of our invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof, and the novel features of our inventive idea will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

40 In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one form in which our invention may be embodied,

Fig. 1 is a view in vertical transverse section of the upper rear portion of an automo- 3 bile with our device applied to the rear curtain. Fig. 2 is a detail view in central vertical section of a limiting switch which is shown in elevation in the upper right hand portion of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail view in 50 section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 5. Fig. 4 is a Serial No. 313,030.

wiring diagram showing the parts in the position which they have when the rear curtain is down and ready to be moved up. Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram showing the parts in the position which they have when the rear cur tain is up and ready to be moved down.

Referring to the construction shown in the drawings, the numeral designates the rear portion of an automobile which is provided with a rear curtain 12, the outer end of which carries a weight 13 and the inner end of which is attached to a shaft or roller 14 mounted in bearings 16 and 18 so that this shaft is dis posed just above the rear window. Secured to the shaft 14 adjacent the bearing 16, there is a spur gear 20 meshing with a spur gear 22- secured to the shaft of an electric motor 24 mounted on the rear wall of the compartment of the automobile. Secured to the shaft 14 adjacent the bearing 18, there is a pinion 26 meshing with a spur gear 28 secured to a shaft 30 which constitutes parts of a limiting switch contained in a housing 32 secured to the rear wall of the compartment of the automobile. within the housing 32, there is a sleeve 34 of insulating material having an annular flange 36 around its middle. Secured to the inner portion of the sleeve 34 there is an annular metallic member having three projecting rings 38, 40 and 42 engageable respec- U tively by contact fingers 44, 46, and 48 attached to a bar 50 of insulating material and secured to the inner surface of the housing 32. The ring 38 has a recess 52 so that the L finger 44 is out of contact with this ring when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 5. The ring 42 has a recess 54 so that the finger 48 is out of contact with this ring when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 4. The ring 40 is always engaged by the finger 46. Secured to the outer portion of the sleeve 34 there is an annular metallic member having three projecting rings 56, 58, and engageable respectively by contact fingers 62, 64, U

and 66 attached to the bar 50. The ring 56 has a recess 68 so that the finger 62 is out of contact with this ring when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 5. The ring 60 has a recess 70 so that the finger 66 is out of con- Secured to the shaft 30 tact with this ring when the latter is in the position shown in Fig. 4. The ring 58 is always engaged by the finger 64. Secured to any convenient place such as the dash B within reach of the driver, there is a switch housing 72 in one side of which is a plate 7 4 of insulating material. Four contact members 76, 78, 80 and 82 are secured to one side of the plate 74 while four contact members 84, 86, 88 and 90 are secured to the other side of the plate 74. A shaft 92 passes rotatably through the center of the housin 7 2, this shaft having secured to one end thereof a knurled knob 94 by which the shaft may be given a rotative movement by the driver. Secured to the shaft 92, there are four contact fingers 96, 98, 100 and 102 which engage respectively with the contact members 84, 86, 88 and 90 when the shaft 92 is in the position of Fig. 4 and which when the shaft is rotated through 180 so as to be in the position of Fig. 5, engage respectively with the contact members 7 6, 7 8, 80 and 82. The fin gers 100 and 102 are electrically connected with each other While the fingers 96 and 98 are independently mounted so as tobe insulated from each other and from the fingers 100 and 102. The contact members 78 and 88 are connected by a cross wire 104 while the contact members 80 and 86 are connected by a cross wire 106. One side of the motor 24 is connected by a wire 108 with the contact member 86 while the other. side of the motor is connected by a wire 110 with the contact finger 46. The contact finger 44 is connected by a wire 112with the contact member 84. The contact finger 48 is connected by a wire 114 with the contact finger 76. Referring now to the three contact fingers 'engageable with the interconnected rings 56, 58, and 60, the contact finger 62 is connected by a wire 116 with the contact member 90; the contact finger 64 is connected by a wire 118 including a field coil 120 with a finger 122 which is in engagement with the hub of the finger 98, the finger 122 also be? ing connected to the return wire 124; the con? tact finger 66 1s connected by a wire 126 with the contact member 82, a finger 128 is in engagement with the conjoint hub of the fingers 100 and 102, the finger 128 having the lead-in wire 130 connectedto it.

The operation and advantages of our invention will be understood in connection with the foregoing description. Fig. 4 shows the parts in the position which they have when the rear curtain is down. It may be assumed that the driver has just turned the shaft 92v into the position shown in this'figure. Cur,

rent now fiows through the lead-in wire 130 to the finger 128 where the current divides, one part going through the finger 102, con tact member 90, wire 116, contact finger 62, the joined rings 56 and 58, wire 118 including the field coil 120 and out through the return wire 124. The other portion of the current goes through the finger 100, cross wire 104, contact member 78, finger 96, contact member 84, wire 112, joined rings 38 and 40, wire 1 0, motor 24, wire 108, contact member 86, fingers 98 and-.122 and out through the return wire 124. Current passes in the proper direction through the motor 24 to cause the latter operating through the gears and 22 to rotate theshaft 14 to wind up the curtain 12. At the same time, the shaft 14 acting through the gears 26 and 28 gradually moves the rotatable members of the limiting switch in counterclocl:wise direction into the position shown in Fig. 5, the proportioning of the rotatable members being such that the parts arrive at the position shown in this figure when the curtain has been rolled up. The rings of the limiting switch make a little less than one rotation so that when the position of Fig. 5 is reached, the ring 88 is out of engagement with the contact finger 44 while .the ring 56 is out of engagement with the contact finger 62. The current is therefore broken and the motor stops. It should be noted that during the above described operation, the rings 42 and have been brought into engagement with the contact fingers 48 and 66 respectively so that the device is set for reverse operation. Therefore, when the driver turns the shaft 92 to bring it into the position shown in Fig. 5, current flows through the lead-in wire 130 to the finger 128 where the current divides, one part going through the finger 102, contact member 82, wire 126, the joined rings 60 and 58, wire 118 including the coil 120 and going out through the return wire 124. The other portion of the current goes through the finger 100, cross wire 106, contact member 86, wire 108, motor armature 24, wire 110, joined rings 40 and 42, wire 114,,contact member 76, finger 96 whose hub is in engagement with the extended end of the contact member 78, fingers 98 and 122 and out through the return wire 124. It will be noted that current now passes in reverse direction through the motor armature 24 but passes in the same dir ction through the field coil 120 as is necessary. The curtainis by this operation lowered and th members of the limiting switch restored to position shown in Fig. 4 thereby stopping the motor.

We claim: I

1. An electrical device for operating rear curtains of automobiles comprising a shaft to which the inner end of the curtain is secured, a motor connected to said shaft, a field coil for saidinotor, a limiting switch having rotatable members operated by said shaft, a menu-- ally operable switch device mounted within reach of the driver,anda divided circuit one portion of which includes said switch device, limiting switch and motor and the other portion of which includes said switch device, limiting switch and field coil.

2. An electrical device for operating rear curtains of automobiles, comprising bearings secured to the rear wall of the automobile 7 compartment, a shaft mounted in said bearings and to which the inner end of the curtain is secured, a motor connected to one end of said shaft, limiting switch having r0 tatable members operated by the other end of said shaft, a manually operable switch de- 10 vice mounted within reach of the driver, and

electrical connections between said switch device, limiting switch and motor, whereby the motor may be caused to operate in either direction as desired, and stop when the curtain reaches its raised and lowered position.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aflix our signatures.

JAY R. RIDPATH. JOHN L. HAGIE. 

